Tomorrow, August 18, 2020, The Virginia General Assembly will convene for a Special Session. It will mark nearly five months since the legislature has met. During this time, Virginia has weathered the worst pandemic in a century, a severe economic recession, and mounting civil unrest.
People are unemployed, public schools face uncertainty as they attempt to bring students back, and many citizens feel helpless as rioters destroy their property and ravage their communities.
Schools are starved of the funding and face whiplash from the schizophrenic guidance that they are receiving as they attempt to bring students back safely. Rather than help our public education system, Democrats seem more concerned with using public funds to take down inanimate statues to further a cultural revolution that is popular with their base.
As of this writing, five days before the Special Session, there are no publicly available bills patroned by Democratic members of the House of Delegates. They issue talking points and press releases rather than work collaboratively with Republicans to form sound, effective solutions for the Commonwealth. Issuing bullet points instead of bills is not governance, nor is it leadership. Waiting until the last minute to present consequential legislation just to avoid extended scrutiny from the public is a disservice to the citizens of Virginia.
This vacuum of leadership has enabled the Governor to rule by decree and without the advice and consent of the legislature. The majority party remains silent in spite of their power being usurped.
While I am glad that the General Assembly will finally convene tomorrow, we are five months too late.
I do not expect Democrats to govern like Republicans. That would be unrealistic given that they have a unified Democratic government. I simply ask that they govern.
Written by: Joe McNamara
Taken from: https://roanoke.com/opinion/columnists/mcnamara-virginia-democrats-continue-to-leave-leadership-vacuum/article_bae4b661-c963-58cb-af5c-14f221c2e5e2.html
